Tell Me the Truth About Racism (4/11)

Please join us on April 11 at the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral for a training that will help equip individuals to talk with children about racism using storytelling through a lens of faith.

Tell Me the Truth About Racism is a new anti-racism Episcopal curriculum for children. It is a six-part story in the style of Godly Play that frames racism through the lens of Christian faith. It can be used with children as young as 5 years of age through middle schoolers and beyond to create awareness and healing about the inherited effects of racism in our world. 

Creators Will Bouvel and Jen Holt Enriquez built the foundation of Tell Me the Truth About Racism in Lent 2021 to teach children in the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago. Soon they began training other Christian formation leaders to use the story in their own churches. The training program received a Becoming Beloved Community Grant from The Episcopal Church in July of 2021. Will and Jen have walked along side more than 75 communities across the United States and Canada and are eager to partner with churches in our diocese. 

In this April 11 workshop, you will experience one of the stories and have a chance to wonder as one would with kids and grownups.  There will be discussion about how to lay groundwork with parents before you start, and ideas and examples of how to use these stories in a variety of settings including intergenerational, day camp, and traditional Sunday mornings. 

Will and Jen’s approach defines racism as “the lie in our world that some people are better than others based on the color of their skin. It is because of the Truth we know from God, that all people are equally children of God, that we can clearly see how racism tells us a lie about who we are. Racism distorts us all - Black, white, and brown - away from who God made us to be."

For more information, please visit tellmethetruthaboutracism.org , where you can read more about their approach and watch videos of stories being told to children.

Lunch will be included. There is a $15 suggested donation for the workshop payable at the door.  Visit the Cathedral website to learn about directions and parking at https://www.philadelphiacathedral.org/directions.  Contact Meredith Wiggins, mwiggins@philadelphiacathedral.org, Director of Children, Youth and Family Ministries, for more information.